stock stain

[M. De Land]

When I ordered my SMR kit from TOTW they had every thing in stock but the stock . I had to wait an additional 6 month on a fancy maple as they had to wait on their supplier. Any way it finally showed up and although it had some tiger stripping it was not nearly as evident as I had hoped it would be. Not carring for the light color of the maple or dark of aquafortic finish I decided to use French Red Winchester stock finish. I really like the look as I had seen it used on a tomahawk handle of maple and really made the grain pop out. I used it on my SMR and could not be more pleased with the result as it made the best possible exposure of what natural tiger there was in the grain.

 

[tenngun]

Photo please.
I never got good results when I tried Aqua forte, although done well it’s very beautiful.
A red was the go to for stringed instruments
As I grew up I say ML represented in art as red. When I got in to ml I had to unlearn so many myths and I thought the red ‘Kentucky rifle’ was one. But myths come from somewhere,

 

[zerosprk]

Yes, pictures please!!!

 

[Treestalker]

Photo please.
I never got good results when I tried Aqua forte, although done well it’s very beautiful.
A red was the go to for stringed instruments
As I grew up I say ML represented in art as red. When I got in to ml I had to unlearn so many myths and I thought the red ‘Kentucky rifle’ was one. But myths come from somewhere,

I myself have had excellent results from aquafortis, but the result is dark, which I like on maple. Also, I used mostly red maple, with it's striking curl. Rock maple tends to be more subtle, but my experience with it is limited. My favorite wood on antique guns is cherry, it takes on a kind of tan color with thin, dark hardwood grain here and there, and just looks 'old timey'. The woodworkers in Mexico used to use shoe polish products on wood to outstanding finish, (and polish powder horns till you could damn near shave in the reflection, LOL!) I like walnut on gunstocks, especially English, but I don't care to work it. I understand the Japanese used oak on some of their teppo matchlocks; I'm tempted to try it on a small Tanigashima build just for fun.

 

[tnlonghunter]

I used aquafortis for the first time last night and was - irritated. I tested it on a couple scraps of curly maple and was really happy, especially after adding a thin coat of minwax red mahogany stain (yeah, yeah... I know ) and then rubbing in some Tru Oil.

Well, my stock was a different story. My lack 9f experience is certainly a factor, but I got the most disgusting green/brown tint that seriously look like baby poop. After rubbing it back heavily with some 0000 steel wool, it showed the grain much better, but still looked sickly green. I just finished rubbing in a light coat of red mahogany, which has done wonders. I'll rub it back again and then see whether it looks good enough for finish or starting over.

All this is to say that as much as I like the traditional ways of shooting these rifles, the reality has become that I prefer the 20th century contemporary concepts (i.e. the Woodbury style, a la Herschel House, Ian Pratt, Steve Davis, etc.). I'm in no way anywhere near their league, but if I'm not gonna build a truly period correct rifle, I'm not gonna feel beholden to period correct finish processes, either.

If you get the finish and look.you like with off-the-shelf products, awesome. The Winchester red is a classic look all its own. I'd love to see pics of yours. I bet it looks awesome.

 

[Eric Krewson]

Aqufortis It is supposed to look like baby poop when you first blush it, it's the application of the finish that brings out the magic.

Here is a side by side picture of just applied aqufortis on the left and blushed with my heat gun on the right.

Add the finish and the magic happens, there were no other stains added to this stock, just aqufortis. This is my current build, I should finish it today.

 

[Flintandsteel]

Let’s see, green aqua fortis? It must be heated till it blushes. Then other alcohol based stains can be added for tonal changes.

 

[M. De Land]

When I ordered my SMR kit from TOTW they had every thing in stock but the stock . I had to wait an additional 6 month on a fancy maple as they had to wait on their supplier. Any way it finally showed up and although it had some tiger stripping it was not nearly as evident as I had hoped it would be. Not carring for the light color of the maple or dark of aquafortic finish I decided to use French Red Winchester stock finish. I really like the look as I had seen it used on a tomahawk handle of maple and really made the grain pop out. I used it on my SMR and could not be more pleased with the result as it made the best possible exposure of what natural tiger there was in the grain.

Here are a few pictures of the French Red stain on the maginally tiger stripped maple. I wanted the red highlights not a red colored stock. The seal is spar varathane under the True oil rubbed oil finished. Tap on the photo to enlarge.

 

[barracudadave67]

Very nice. I like the kind of subdued coloration, of it. Nice work.

Dave

 

[tenngun]

Love Aqua forte on stocks never got it to work for me, but I think these look none too bad

 

[M. De Land]

Very nice. I like the kind of subdued coloration, of it. Nice work.

Dave

Thank you! I think I would like to add a bit of relief carving and a modest bit of silver wire to high light and accentuate the carving on the next but be careful to not over due either. Even done modestly these decorative ideas may detract from what I feel the SMR was designed to be but would risk it at least on one rifle to see if I like it or not.
To me, wood grain, architecture, style, fit and finish of metal and wood are the important factors of SMR rifle adornment. I believe they were designed for business and yet still elegant and graceful in their own right.
The one departure of the SMR style I am sold on is the French Red stain on the maple wood stock. I really like the red high lights rather than the dark of the aquafortic which I'm sure is a more traditional look.

 

[oldwood]

Just for grins , a natural red stain used on some long rifles was blood root. It is a common woods plant here in Pa. . When the stem on the plant is separated from the root , what comes out is what looks just like blood. There is some gun building history that tells of using this blood like juice for long rifle stain. Tried the stain and found red alcohol base stain to be a substitute. ...........oldwood

 

[M. De Land]

One other thing that some of you who are far more/better schooled on SMR history than I, would know about, is maple being used for the stock wood. My guess is that it may not have been the primary stock wood used for these rifles.
I believe walnut and cherry were also widely used, no?

 

[oldwood]

Somewhere , years ago , I read that wood used by backwoods gunsmiths might be , maple , walnut , butter nut , cherry , fruit wood , birch , etc. Kinda sounded like the choice could have been biased toward what was on hand , and the customer's funding. There were few saw mills , and pit saws were sometimes employed. The wood still had to dry 1 year per inch of thickness. At Dixon's M/L shop in Pa. , there is a Lehigh shape rifle with No butt plate , think it has a brass trigger guard and at least two thimbles. It is made from a nicely figured fine curl maple. The amazement of it is that the blank was very termite tunneled from end to end. The way the tunnels are displayed shows the gun was made after the termites did their work. Figure a customer was a monetarily poor fellow , and needed a rifle . There was little money on the frontier , and , for instance , one deer hide was considered a "Buck" . If an inexpensive rifle cost 5 "Bucks" , that was 5 deer hides. Guns were purchased w/whatever barter items could be had.........................oldwood

 

[Zutt-man]

As long as the directions are followed with aqua fortis, I’m not sure you can go wrong. Really makes that curl pop

 

[M. De Land]

View attachment 102584View attachment 102582View attachment 102583View attachment 102584View attachment 102577View attachment 102578View attachment 102579View attachment 102580View attachment 102581As long as the directions are followed with aqua fortis, I’m not sure you can go wrong. Really makes that curl pop

Really nice wood !

 

[Tradbow]

X2. Beautiful pattern on that wood.